A presentation of the Oceans21 initiative

Emanuele Roccatagliata

GISIG (I)

Abstract

Oceans 21 (GIS for Coastal Management and Coastal Education) is a joint initiative by IOC-International Oceanographic Commission of Unesco and IGU-International Geographic Union. Oceans 21 was firstly launched in 1998 and it is now going to start the final discussion of its new Science Plan from 2005 to 2008.
Besides IOC and IGU are partner in Oceans 21, GISIG, ICCOPS, the Gerard J. Mangone Center for Marine Policy (Newark, Delaware) and the CoastGIS International Executive Committee. It was in fact in the frame of CoastGIS '03 that was primarily prospected the possibility of redesigning Oceans 21.
In the 2005-2008 Science Plan Oceans 21 has been focussed to GI and GIS for coastal management, while at the same maintaining the previous address to education and training as operational arena. There are six proposed projects on which to structure and develop the activity of Oceans 21, four of which are strictly linked, to favour a more efficacious implementation and then the exploitation of the possibilities offered by the new initiative, to the four working groups of ECO-IMAGINE.
The GI address will bee pursued with a special attention to the European and global running initiatives, namely GSDI and INSPIRE. Moreover, at least in its first phase Oceans21 will assume the Mediterranean as its main focus, for the unique richness of different situations and needs therein present.
The subject areas for the initiative are trans-disciplinary research, development of case studies, awareness and dissemination; finally, as per its major theme, education and training. The main expected outcomes are training products, web information for scientists and practitioners, a meeting and duscussion point instantiated by the website, a newsletter, scientific events and papers.
Proper links will be established with all the initiatives in this field to avoid duplication and instead favour a synergy with a mutual advantage for all of them.
ICCOPS with the collaboration of GISIG will host the technical secretariat of ICCOPS whilst the general secretariat will be hosted by IOC in Paris. Moreover the Oceans 21 website will be conducted by ICCOPS as a section of its own website, www.iccops.it/oceans21.
November 24th, 2004, a meeting is convened at IOC for the operational start of the project.